


Flight of the Green Lion

by Mnemnems



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Hunk buys a sweater, Kuro is a bad boy, Lance gets ice cream with Keith, Shenanigans, Shiro and Kuro switch places, Space Mall, The mice want cheese, What is cheese?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-24 20:12:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12020124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mnemnems/pseuds/Mnemnems
Summary: A story about Allura's mice and how they steal the green lion and take it out to hunt for cheese in space.





	Flight of the Green Lion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RainbowShark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowShark/gifts).



> This self indulgent nonsense was the result of a silly conversation with my friend who has been digging their Voltron hole alongside mine.
> 
> Happy Birthday @rainbowshark!

A red light started blinking on one of the screens.

"Ah, Pidge-"

Pidge was rambling about the new modification to Green she made. For some reason they all had to hear the detailed explanations of how she installed it, not just how to use the damn thing once it was in their own lions.

Keith poked Pidge in the side, she just squirmed away and continued talking, swinging her arms wildly in her explanations. Shiro seemed to be the only one actually listening to her, the rest of the paladins were sprawled around Green's cockpit spacing out. He thought Lance might have actually fallen asleep. Keith just turned her towards the screen. "What?!" She yelled, now that he had her attention.

Pidge's eyes focused on the blinking light. Her brows came together and fingers started flying over the controls. "Hold on guys, I should check this out." Pidge grabbed her laptop off the seat and started typing as she walked out of the lion. Keith moved over to the viewscreen and saw Pidge come of the mouth and start inspecting a panel on one of the lion's paws below.

There's a movement in the hanger by Pidge's work station. Keith focused on the shadow and saw Kuro slinking out of the hangar. Just as he was about to point this out, several sudden events cut Keith off. Pidge looked up in surprise as Green stood up. Lance jumped awake, yelling "Did one of the mice just bite my ear?!" Then they found themselves airborne, leaving the hanger of the castle to open space.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Pidge watched Green, _her lion_ , fly out of the hanger, _without her_.

There was a snicker behind her and she spun around towards the hanger entrance. Kuro was peeking around the doorway with a hand covering his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter. Pidge immediately headed towards him but he spun around and disappeared down the hallway. She knew she wouldn't be able to catch up to the sneaky clone and resolved to find him once he settled somewhere in the castle.

Furious, Pidge made her way to the bridge and sat in her chair. It was empty for the moment, Allura and Coran probably off inspecting some part of the ship. She pulled up screens to scan for Green then called for Allura over the comms.

"What's up?" Allura's voice sounded over the speaker.

"Can you come to the bridge. Something...ah...happened and I need your help." Pidge tried to keep her voice level.

"Everything okay?" Allura asked.

"Yeah, yeah. But if you could come like now that would be great." Pidge said.

A sigh came through the speaker, "Be right there Pidge."

Pidge got up at the sound of the door opening and Allura strolled onto the bridge with Coran at her heels. Allura stopped in front of Pidge, looking concerned. "I was explaining the new system in Green to everyone and a maintenance warning went off. While I was checking out the panels outside Green she suddenly took off!" Pidge explained and Allura's eyes widened in shock. "Also I think Kuro might have had something to do with it."

Allura glanced at the scans that Pidge was running. "Where is he now?"

"I don't know, he snuck off before I could talk to him." Pidge said.

Allura held her face in her hands with a heavy sigh. "I'll search for your lion, you go find Kuro."

"On it." Pidge turned on her heel and left the bridge.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

A purple and red gas giant was getting larger and larger in the viewscreen. The paladins had no idea where they were going. However they noticed the random movement of the mice running over the control panels might not be so random. It was almost as though they were telling Green where to go.

Lance was glaring at the mice from where he was lounging in Green's chair. "So the mice are telepathic right? That's how they seem to talk to Allura? Maybe they can talk to the lions too. I think they're bringing us somewhere."

Keith glanced at Lance. "That's the stupidest thing-"

"Keith." Shiro warned. He did not need to deal with the two bickering paladins in such a confined space. Keith crossed his arms and turned away from Lance to continue looking out the viewscreen.

"I think Lance might be onto something. And looks like our destination is coming up." Hunk said, pointing towards the planet.

They were close enough to the planet now that they could see one of its moons. After a few dobashes, Green descended to a landing pad on the moon next to a building rivaling the size of the castle. Green lowered her head and opened her mouth. The mice scrambled out of the control room. Shiro shrugged and went after the mice, the rest of the paladins following.

As they stepped out of the lion they saw a neon sign on the side of the building reading 'Space Mall.' Shiro caught a glimpse of movement on the ground and saw a tail disappear through the door. He looked back towards the rest of the paladins, "Let's follow the mice and see if we can figure out what's going on. We'll split up to look for them. Make sure to keep your comms on in case one of us finds them. Keith and Lance, you guys take the left side of the mall. Hunk and I will take the right side."

Lance and Keith both groaned and threw each other glares. "Behave," Shiro warned. They stepped through the doors into the space mall.

"Race you to the end of the mall," Lance challenged.

Keith perked up, "Ha! You're slower than a snail, why even bother?"

"You're supposed to be looking for the mice!" Shiro yelled but the two paladins had already taken off, weaving through the crowds and stalls.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Kuro was curled up in one of the observation decks, taking a peaceful nap on a large pillow.

"Hey!" Pidge yelled into Kuro's ear and hit his flesh arm. Kuro mumbled something and cracked one golden eye to look at Pidge. "Where did my lion go?!"

Kuro's other eye opened and a huge grin spread over his face. "Dunno," he said.

"Bullshit!" Pidge was glaring daggers down at him, her hands crossed over her chest.

Kuro lifted his metal claw to the back of his neck and took on an innocent tone. "Look, I was rummaging through the kitchen for something edible - that 'food' goo is definitely not edible, the Galra didn't even have anything that bad - and the mice came over to see what I was doing. I mentioned how nice it would be to have some cheese. After a few questions on their part and _excellent_ descriptions on my part, they decided they wanted to try some of this 'so called cheese.' Though they didn't use words of course."

Pidge raised an eyebrow as she said, "You can talk to the mice?"

"Of course, can you not?" Kuro looked up with a confused look. When it was clear she wasn't going to answer and was still waiting for an explanation on her lion he continued his story, "I speculated to the mice that a space mall might have something similar to cheese. They just looked soooo cute, jumping in excitement, I just _had_ to help them get to a space mall. So I may have made some adjustments to the green lion and helped them get on board."

"So. You're telling me, that the _mice_ took Green to a space mall. For cheese." Pidge didn't believe a single word that came out of Kuro's mouth.

At that moment Kuro bent over in pain. He had to be kidding, that wasn't going to work on her. Then Kuro sat back up and looked around in confusion. "Pidge?"

"Yes?" Pidge said.

"Where am I? Is this the castle?" Kuro looked up at her in confusion.

"Kuro, stop playing around. Tell me where Green is." Pidge said, her patience wearing thin.

Kuro looked even more confused. "Kuro?" He stood up and looked at his hands. His yellow eyes widened when he saw the clawed prosthetic. "Pidge, what's going on? It's me, Shiro." Pidge wasn't buying it. Kuro was just trying to get her off his back. He didn't understand what was going on and tried to explain in his panic, "I was just at the space mall and Hunk and I went into this weird shop with these instruments everywhere. I touched this one wobbly looking thing and then I found myself here, in the castle." He looked pleadingly at Pidge, then dropped his head to mumble to himself, "I can't believe I touched something again. Stupid. I'm not going to hear the end of it from Kuro."

He was acting more like Shiro than Kuro so Pidge decided to indulge him for the time being. "You're saying you're really Shiro and switched places with Kuro? What happened after Green took off?"

"We were waiting in Green's cockpit for you to check that blinking light and...and Green just got up and took off. The mice...they showed up in the cockpit and were running over the controls. Lance theorized they were communicating with Green through their telepathic connection and piloting her. Sounded reasonable... Then we arrived at a space mall and followed the mice inside to look for them." Shiro was looking at her hoping his explanation was enough to convince her of his predicament.

Pidge looked up at him and sighed. "I can't believe this is happening. Let's go find Allura."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Keith had to stop to catch his breath, bending over with his hands on his knees. Lance and his stupid long legs. By the time Keith reached the end of the mall he had lost sight of Lance. He checked out the stalls at the end of the mall, looking for Lance and the mice. Seeing neither, he turned around and started making his way back to the entrance, looking in the stores as he passed them.

"Mullet! Hey, Mullet, over here!" Keith turned towards the obnoxiously loud sound. Lance was jumping up and down with his hand in the air, calling Keith over to one of the stalls. Keith shot him a glare and pushed his way through the crowd to the blue paladin.

"Look Keith! They have ice cream!" Lance said. He was still bouncing on his feet.

Keith looked at the stall and saw something that could pass for ice cream. If it wasn't glowing. Despite its oddity, he found himself thinking of the quiet afternoons after class when Shiro would take him to get ice cream. They would speed through the desert to find a good place to sit and eat their ice cream before it melted in the desert heat.

Only because Lance wouldn't stop making those whining noises and not at all because he was feeling nostalgic, Keith searched through his pockets for any GAC. "Here," he shoved what little money he had into Lance's chest.

Lance's face lit up like it was Christmas. He ran up to the lizard-like creature in the stall and handed over the space money for two tubs of the glowing space ice cream. Lance handed a red one to Keith and kept the blue one for himself. There was way too much ice cream, probably 4 times the size of what Keith got back at the Garrison. There was also what looked like a straw stuck in it instead of a spoon. Keith sucked on the straw and was surprised at the taste of peanut butter and a fizzy feeling on his tongue. He looked over to Lance who was sucking so much up through the straw he had to stop and shake his head at the brain freeze.

"Bananas!" Lance exclaimed, looking at Keith with a huge grin. "What's yours? Can I try?" Lance leaned over but Keith pushed him away with a grimace and turned towards the next store, taking another sip of the glowing peanut butter ice cream.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Hunk was on the other side of the store when he saw Shiro bend over in pain. He ran to Shiro and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay buddy?" Hunk asked. It seemed like the pain had stopped by the time he got there so he offered a hand to help up his leader. Shiro took his hand with his right one and Hunk pulled him to his feet. As Shiro stood and saw his metal hand in Hunk's a mischievous grin spread across his face. That didn't seem like Shiro.

Once standing, Shiro immediately turned and ran out of the store. At the door he turned around and waved, saying, "See you later, yellow man," before running further into the mall.

Hunk was left standing there with his arm still outstretched and his mouth hanging open. What just happened? Shiro was acting more like Kuro than Shiro. He gathered himself and looked at the shelf next to where Shiro collapsed and saw a strange wobbly looking contraption. He couldn't read the writing but it looked like there was a two-way arrow written on the sign. Hunk was not feeling good about this.

Wandering back into the main bustle of the mall, Hunk looked in the nearby stores for Shiro or the mice. He soon found Shiro crouched behind a stall selling what looked like some kind of purple meat on a stick. "Shiro!" Hunk yelled. Shiro spun around, almost looking guilty, then shifted, prepared to run further into the mall. Hunk grabbed his arm before he could go anywhere. "Shiro?" Hunk looked up at Shiro with a puzzled expression.

"Kuro," Shiro - no, Kuro - said with a large grin.

"Okay..." Hunk was still confused.

"I was hiding from Pidge on one of the observation decks, then this sudden pain overcame me and I was here! I bet Shiro was playing with something he shouldn't have? That's so like him, isn't it? Though I guess only Keith would know that story," he trailed off. Kuro was enjoying this situation way too much, Hunk thought.

"I thought I saw him touch something, I was on the other side of the room though. I'm sure he had a good reason," Hunk said, not wanting to put down his leader when Kuro already thought so low of him. "I took a look at the contraption I think he touched and talked to the store attendant. Seems like it's a temporary condition and we'll just have to wait it out. We should keep looking for the mice. Apparently they're the ones who piloted Green to the mall; we think they're looking for something."

"Oh, they did! They wanted some cheese." Kuro had that mischievous look he had all too often, though it was less ominous without the yellow eyes.

"How do you know that?" Hunk asked suspiciously.

"I'm the one who told them about it!" Kuro said, very pleased with himself. "Then I helped them hijack the green lion. That's why I was hiding from Pidge. Come on, let's go find the mice."

"Wha-" Hunk stammered, but Kuro grabbed Hunk's hand and pulled him through the crowd. He passed most of the shops and stalls, seeming to have a destination in mind. Soon they reached what looked like the main food court. It was packed with food stalls and various creatures grabbing a snack while shopping. They walked around to each one, looking for cheese or a sign of the mice. Hunk spotted something that could be cheese and called Kuro over. They asked the attendant if they had seen four small mice and got a nod, however they didn't know where the mice went after.

"They didn't say where they were going?" Kuro asked. Hunk and the attendant gave him confused looks.

"I couldn't understand them at all. Just lots of squeaking," the attendant said.

"The mice can only talk to Allura," Hunk explained.

"I can talk to them." Kuro shrugged and turned around to leave the stall.

"Wait!" They turned back to the stall. A small alien, shorter than the stall's counter, was peaking over the top. "I could understand them. They were saying something about a green...something. I don't know what it was."

"Oh, thank you!" Hunk said and the small alien beamed at their ability to help.

On their way back to Green, Kuro suddenly grabbed Hunk's arm and pulled him into a shop. He weaved through racks of clothes to the back of the store and stood in front of a purple glittery crop top. With the biggest grin Hunk has ever seen on Shiro's face, Kuro pulled one down and held it up to himself. Pushing out his chest and putting on a show, he said, "What do you think?"

Hunk burst out laughing, because though he acts like Kuro, he still looks like their uptight leader. "Looks like something Lance would wear, honestly. But I can't even imagine it on Shiro." He wiped a couple tears from his eyes.

"Perfect," Kuro said with a wide grin and laid the shirt over his arm as he moved onto another rack. He picked up a heavier woven shirt and held it up to Hunk's chest. Hunk looked down at the metallic sweater that changed colors as the material moved, quirking an eyebrow at Kuro.

Kuro pushed him towards a mirror in the corner. Hunk had to admit the sweater was kind of fun. He shook the fabric in front of him and watched the rippling colors. As soon as a smile appeared on Hunk's face, Kuro grabbed the sweater from Hunk's hands and said, "Great!"

He moved to the attendant at the counter and handed over some GAC. The attendant put the two shirts in a bag and handed them back to Kuro. "Actually, can we wear these now?" Kuro said, with a flirting wink. The attendant blushed and showed them the back room to change.

In their new flashy clothes, Kuro and Hunk headed back towards the entrance to the space mall.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Keith and Lance rounded the corner to the mall entrance and saw Hunk and Shiro approaching them. Keith attempted to stifle his laughter at whatever the hell Shiro was wearing. He failed miserably, bending over double and pointing at Shiro. "What - are you - wearing?" He managed to say, wiping some tears from his eyes.

Lance stood in shock for a moment, eyes darting between Hunk's colorful sweater and Shiro's glittery crop top. After the shock wore off, he ran up to Shiro to give him a high five. "Nice choice, man! Didn't know you had such style."

"He doesn't," muttered Hunk.

Lance turned towards Hunk and with a large grin said, "And you! Look at you! You guys are making me jealous. You have to show me this store."

"No, Lance. We have to find the mice and get back to the castle before Allura and Pidge kill us." Keith said. "Probably too late," he added.

"Oh! We found the mice! They were apparently headed back to Green," Hunk explained.

"Alright, let's get back to Green and head to the castle. Shiro, you alright?" Keith gave Shiro a questioning glance. Shiro was standing with an odd posture...almost like how Kuro lurked in a room. Not to mention that flashy shirt...

"Yeah, yeah. It's Kuro by the way." Shiro flashed Keith a grin and a wink. Keith was only more confused. He glanced at Hunk who shrugged and said it was a long story.

They went out the mall doors and headed to the green lion. The mice were sitting on the ramp gathered around a piece of cheese, waiting for the paladins to return.

Lance turned around, walking backwards toward the lion. "Keith, my man, you should get one of those flashy crop tops. Your emo face could use some color."

Keith's face grew dangerous and he raised what remained of his glowing ice cream and ran towards Lance.

"Guys!" Hunk yelled halfheartedly. It was going to be a long trip back without Shiro here to keep the two in line.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Pidge stood in Green's hanger with Shiro standing next to her, his arms crossed and a displeased look on his face. Except it wasn't his face. What would be a displeased look on Shiro's face was frightening with Kuro's glowing eyes and sharp claws.

Green descended into the hanger and crouched for her passengers to exit down the ramp. Keith and Lance came out first, Lance was holding something with a straw and his mouth was glowing blue. It looked like a similar glowing substance, but red, had been dumped on his head. He looked like a Lance shaped neon sign. They were joking around though, none of the hostility that often occurs between them. They completely ignored the two waiting paladins as they exited the hanger.

Hunk came out in the wildest sweater and carrying a shopping bag. The sweater seemed to change colors as he walked down the ramp. He looked a little guilty as he saw Pidge and Shiro waiting for them. He paused for a moment like he was going to say something, but couldn't think of anything and exited the hanger.

Kuro exited Green last. He was wearing a purple glittery crop top and holding the four mice in his hand. Seeing Pidge and Shiro waiting at the bottom of the ramp, he set the mice down, which immediately scurried away. Pidge noticed one of them holding a large slice of cheese. Kuro stood in front of Shiro with his trademark wild grin. However it was Pidge who exploded with anger towards Kuro.

"What did you think you were doing?! You can't just steal the lions! What if there was an attack? What if Green wasn't in a state to be flying because I was just making adjustments? Besides, I'm her Paladin! She's my lion." The small green paladin assaulted Kuro verbally and threw in a few punches to his midsection for good measure.

"Look, little green, I'm sorry we took the green lion without asking you first. But as I was telling you earlier, the mice were so _cute_! How could I resist them?" Kuro said, taking on a more innocent expression.

"You could have asked. We could have all gone to the space mall together." Pidge said.

Kuro seemed to consider that for a moment. "I didn't think we were allowed to take breaks. Saving the universe and all. The Galra were always work work work. I became very good at making my own breaks."

Pidge felt a little guilt for getting mad at Kuro trying to express his newfound freedom. "Just ask next time okay?"

"Gotcha," Kuro said with a mock salute.

"Now what do we do about you two?" Pidge looked between Shiro and Kuro. Shiro had calmed down as Pidge and Kuro worked out their problem. He glanced at Kuro.

"Hunk said he's pretty sure it will wear off and we'll go back to our own bodies." Kuro explained.

"Oh good," Shiro said with a relieved sigh.

"Maybe next time don't go touching strange objects?" Kuro said, giving Shiro a knowing look.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Shiro said with his hand on his neck.

The three of them ventured back into the castle. The evening found the castle's residents gathered in the common room, eating some snacks Keith picked up in the space mall and sharing their adventures from the day. Midway through the evening, Shiro and Kuro bent over in pain and recovered in their own bodies. Shiro felt a slight chill on his midriff and looked down at the crop top he was wearing. His face flushed red as everyone broke out in laughter over seeing their leader in a purple glittery crop top.

"I want that back," Kuro said, flashing a glare at Shiro.

**Author's Note:**

> Hunk and Kuro would be good bros. I want more of the two of them now.


End file.
